Save & Resume | Setup Save & Resume - Zoho Forms

Save & Resume

Overview

When sharing a form with numerous questions, it's important to make the process as convenient as possible for respondents. Filling out long forms in one sitting can be challenging, especially if they don't have all the necessary information readily available. Additionally, there’s always a risk of losing unsaved data due to network issues or other disruptions, which can be frustrating for users.

To address these challenges, Zoho Forms offers a Save & Resume feature, allowing respondents to save partially completed forms and return to finish them at their convenience. This feature enhances user experience by offering flexibility and peace of mind. Respondents can save their progress, have secure link to their partially filled form, and pick up right where they left off, avoiding the need to start over. This also ensures they have the time to gather any missing information before submitting.


How to Save & Resume a Record

To enable the Save & Resume option:
  1. In your form builder, navigate to Settings > Submissions & Storage > Save for Later > Save & Resume.
  2. Choose Enable under Save & Resume.
    Enable Save & Resume 

  3. Once enabled, a Save button will be available in the footer of each page in your form. You can change the Save Button Label according to your preference. For example, you can change it to Continue Later.
       Additionally: 
    1. If you wish to send the saved form link to your respondents via email, select Allow respondents to receive saved form's link via email. Learn More 
    2. To set a user-specific limit for saving entries in a form, select Set a maximum limit for saved entries per user. Learn More
    3. To enable respondents to view the saved entries before submitting a new entry in the live form, select Prompt users to review saved entries before adding a new entry in the live form. Learn More   

  4. Once you're done, Click Save. 
    When respondents save their form, they will see a pop-up with a link to their partially saved form as shown.

    Link to resume the form later
They must save this link to access the partially filled form later.
Note:
  1. The option to send the form link to resume form filling to the respondents is available only in our paid plans.
  2. The same link continues to update even when the form is filled and saved multiple times.
  3. If you encounter an error while accessing the URL of a saved form, check out why.
  4. A respondent will not be able to Save & Resume, if the form is not accessible as per the configuration in Form Availability settings. 
  5. A respondent cannot submit a partially saved record, if the overall form entries have exceeded the submission limits configured in Form Availability settings.
To send the saved form link to your respondents via email: 
  1. After enabling Save & Resume, enable the Allow respondents to receive saved form's link via email option.
  2. To edit the default email template provided, click Edit email template.
    If you wish to display a From Name in your emails, you can configure it by clicking Add From Name below the From  address section.
         Select a To address to which the partially filled form's link is to be sent. All the Email fields in the form (except those in Subforms) will be listed to select from.
    You can change the email's Subject and Message according to your preference and click Done.

    Email Template for Saved form link

  3. Click Save.


            Link to resume the form later

  1. You will see the option to send an email with the link to resume filling out the form in the pop-up only on accessing a publicly shared form. For private forms and privately shared forms, check out how to get the link to the saved forms.
  2. If respondents save the form without entering an email address in the Email field, they can later provide their email in the pop-up to receive a link for resuming form completion.
  3. The email containing the saved form link can be sent only once.

Set a maximum limit for saved entries per user

To restrict the number of entries a user can save in a form, enable the Set a maximum limit for saved entries per user option and enter the desired value. 
Set limit for saved entries per user

For example: As per the limit set above, a user can save up to FIVE entries in a single form.  Once this limit is reached, no additional entries can be saved. 
Note:
  1. The maximum limit that can be set is 25. 
  2. Set a maximum limit for saved entries per user option is only available for organization users. Learn More

Review saved entries before a new entry

To allow respondents to review their saved entries before submitting a new entry, enable the Prompt users to review saved entries before adding a new entry in the live form option.

Here’s how respondents can use this in live form: 
  1. Upon accessing the live form, two options will be displayed: Saved Record(s) and + Create New.

    Saved entries found

  2. Click on Saved Record(s) to display a summary of all the saved entries.
    To fill out a new entry, click + Create New.
  3. Select the desired saved record to view its details. 
  4. Click Edit to open the saved form and resume filling it.  
Saved entries summary

Note: Prompt users to review saved entries before adding a new entry in the live form option is only available for organization users. Learn More


Viewing Partially Saved Entries

To view partially-saved entries from the All Entries tab,
  1. Go to the All Entries section of your form.
  2. Click the All Entries dropdown as shown and select Partially Saved Entries.
    Filter entries by partially saved entries



  3. All the partially saved entries and their corresponding saved form URLs will be listed here.

    Partially saved entries

When a form is shared privately within an organization, the respondents can view their partially-filled entries by following the steps below:

  1. Under Shared Forms, hover your mouse over a shared form.
  2. Click Saved Entries.

    Click Saved Entries

  3. The partially saved entries can be viewed here. You can resume filling a saved entry from here by hovering over a saved entry, clicking the ellipsis icon and then selecting the edit icon.

Respondents can also view their partially saved entries before adding a new entry in the live form. This option is available to organization users alone. Learn More 

Exporting Partially Saved Entries

To export partially saved entries,
  1. Go to the All Entries section of your form.
  2. Click the All Entries dropdown as shown and select Partially Saved Entries.



  3. Click the Export icon in the top-right corner.

    Click Export


  4. Choose the format in which you want to export your file (CSV or PDF).

    Export as CSV or PDF

  5. Enter a name for your file in File Name.
  6. You can choose to protect your exported file with a password. To do so, select Protect with a password, and enter a password of your choice.

    Export as CSV
  7. When you export data consisting of encrypted entries, you can choose to mask the encrypted data using the Mask encrypted entries option.
  8. Click Done.